Consuming Experiences Shift Standards Through Attentional Collapse

In five studies, participants forecasted how much they would enjoy a future experience (e.g., eating potato chips) or had that experience (e.g., ate potato chips). Hedonic forecasts were strongly affected by the presence of a superior alternative (e.g., chocolate) or an inferior alternative (e.g., sardines), but hedonic experiences were unaffected in three studies—experiencers were happy eating potato chips irrespective of the present alternative. In our forth and fifth studies, hedonic experiences were affected by present alternatives only when hedonic experiences required few attentional resources. The results suggest that forecasters underestimate the extent to which hedonic experiences "consume" attention and render alternatives irrelevant.